Father Of Invention

Most of us know the stories of Thomas Edison, the Wright
Brothers and Benjamin Franklin--American inventors who demonstrated
great ingenuity. But how come it's so difficult for most of us
to name a modern-day inventor? Our focus on whom to admire seems to
have shifted from those who improve our lives to those who
entertain us. Well, allow me to introduce a living, breathing
inventor who has undoubtedly changed your life.

The next time you peel open a Band-Aid, bite into a granola bar,
wear a plastic-underwire bra, squeeze a ketchup bottle, use
microwave cookware or wrap a contoured disposable diaper around a
baby's bottom, thank 76-year-old Stanley I. Mason.

Mason's inventions are as diverse as his background.
He's studied in several fields and worked for many companies,
including Hunt Foods, Kimberly-Clark and Volvo. Today, he's
president of Simco Inc., a Weston, Connecticut, think tank he
established in 1973. As Simco's client list reveals, many
Fortune 500 companies have looked to Mason to invent or improve
their products. The reason is clear: He has a long track record of
success.

Tomima Edmark is the inventor of the TopsyTail and several
other products, and is author of The American Dream Fact Pack
($49.95), available by calling (800) 558-6779. Questions
regarding inventions and patents may be sent to "Bright
Ideas," Entrepreneur, 2392 Morse Ave., Irvine, CA
92614.

An Early Start

Like most inventors, Mason showed talent at an early age. When
he was 7 years old, his dad refused to give him 15 cents to buy
minnows for fishing bait. His mother suggested he make an
artificial minnow and gave him a wooden clothespin. A few
prototypes later, Mason had a bass-catching minnow. Within days, he
had neighborhood kids paying him 26 cents each for the minnows,
which he could make in 15 minutes.

He learned four important lessons from his minnow-making
venture. First, create a product that people want. Second, products
that can be demonstrated are easier to sell. Third, find a market
that will be anxious to buy the product. And fourth, always think
of how you can modify the product to create a line of related
items.

Mason has since amassed an impressive inventing record. He holds
more than 60 U.S. patents, many of which protect ideas currently in
commercial use. Having worked with more than 40 corporate clients,
Mason has developed insights into how to be an effective inventor
of pint-sized products, which he shares in his new book,
Inventing Small Products: For Big Profits, Quickly (Crisp
Publications).

Mason believes many inventors create problems for themselves by
inventing products before having the slightest idea of who might
buy them. To discover where there's a need for a new product,
take weekly trips to grocery, drug and hardware stores to study the
categories of products for sale. Mason has even gone so far as to
buy a sample of all the products in a category so he could recreate
a store shelf to see how his product would look in a realistic
retail environment.

If your objective is to sell or license your idea to another
company, Mason has some strong opinions about how this should be
done. He has discovered that the leading company in an industry is
usually the least interested in new inventions. Mason recommends
seeking out companies that are trying to become industry
leaders.

Large companies also prefer to make lump-sum payments to buy
inventions, rather than pay annual royalties. So Mason feels
it's important to know how much money you want for your idea
before meeting with one of these companies. And never go to a
meeting alone; always have someone with you to act as a witness and
to take detailed notes of what transpired. But Mason warns against
bringing your lawyer to a meeting. This can ruin a deal by making
the other side nervous. Bring your accountant instead, since he or
she has probably already calculated the anticipated costs of
bringing your idea to market and can help you negotiate.

On The Drawing Board

Mason's list of successful inventions is impressive, but
this inventor has far from exhausted his creativity. He has several
promising inventions that are expected to make their debuts
soon.

For example, he has invented and patented the ultimate fruit
bowl. Wouldn't it be great if you could put fruit in a bowl and
not have it spoil in a few days? When that thought crossed
Mason's mind, he solved the problem by designing a bowl set on
a pedestal with strategic ridges and air holes.

Another of Mason's ideas addresses the problem caused when
liquid cleaning products make your grocery sacks heavy. Why not
package these products in concentrated form so consumers can mix
water with the concentrate when they're ready to use them? With
the help of his team at Simco, Mason invented a container that
holds the concentrate on one side, and has an opening on the other
side that allows you to easily add water. The sprayer at the top
instantly mixes the two ingredients in the proper proportion. All
consumers have to do is fill the empty chamber with water, then
spray as usual.

But Mason's grand passion is the tallow tree. Several years
ago, he realized that the Chinese tallow tree might offer a
solution to our nation's need for cleaner-burning fuel. The
liquid from the tallow tree's seeds can be used as diesel
engine fuel without being refined. The smoke from an engine burning
tallow seed extract is white and replaces the odor of diesel fumes
with the smell of cooking honey. The outside of the tallow seeds
can be used as a substitute for edible fats such as cocoa butter;
the oil can be used in manufacturing plastic; and the leftover
solids can be compressed and fed to cattle. "It's like the
pig. You use everything," says Mason.

Mason believes enough tallow trees could be grown on marginal
land in Hawaii and other states to replace at least 5 percent of
the petroleum used in the United States--at the same cost as diesel
fuel. Hawaii stands to benefit from this plan as well. In the past
few years, the Aloha State has seen its sugar cane and pineapple
crops transplanted to countries where labor is cheaper. Mason hopes
the tallow tree will return valuable lost agricultural dollars to
Hawaii.

Although Mason has clearly been successful, he hasn't always
been financially independent. Many of his ideas were developed long
before he quit his day job. He received a salary; the company
retained the patents.

His first personal commercial success came when he and his wife
developed a line of microwave cookware. Known as Masonware, it was
the first line of microwave-safe cookware and cooking utensils. It
sold in thousands of stores and made him financially
independent.

With so many successes under his belt, what motivates Mason
today? He enjoys working on his ideas and those of others at his
custom-designed conference table at Simco, and his biggest joy is
still the same: seeing an idea materialize into something
useful.